IBM and Fraunhofer bring Quantum Computing to Germany

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and IBM announced today the signing of the agreement aimed at advancing quantum computing in Germany. The collaboration gives companies and research institutions access to IBM quantum computers in Germany and the USA under the umbrella of a nationwide Fraunhofer competence network. The aim is to research the technology, application scenarios and algorithms while generating competence development and competitive advantages for the local economy and science.

As part of the collaboration, an IBM Quantum System One quantum computer will be installed in a IBM computer center near Stuttgart. The system is scheduled to go into operation in early 2021 and will be the first of its kind in Europe. Fraunhofer plans to bring together established partners from research and industry under the umbrella of a research infrastructure of Fraunhofer institutes, which will work together in a centrally coordinated national Fraunhofer competence network for quantum computing.

This network has set itself the goal of further developing and transferring application-oriented quantum computing strategies under complete data sovereignty of European law and will initially be represented by competence centers in expected six German states – Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, Berlin, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. Currently, more than ten Fraunhofer Institutes are already working on various fields of quantum technology.

Fraunhofer IAF participating in competence network for quantum computing

As part of the Center of Competence »Quantum Computing Baden-Württemberg«, Fraunhofer IAF would like to make significant progress in the performance of qubit arrays and quantum memories. The aim of the institute is to accelerate the computing rates achievable with quantum computers and to reduce error rates through research and development of novel quantum hardware. Research and development at the IAF will focus on the development into quantum hardware along the entire value chain, i.e. everything from the development of new material structures and process technologies, to the creation of associated analytics and quality assurance for quantum electronic components, to research into new construction and packaging technologies and demonstration of powerful quantum memories and processing components.

IBM Quantum System One

IBM Quantum System One is optimized to ensure the quality, stability, reliability and reproducibility of multi-qubit applications. Due to these factors and the resulting high quantum volume (a measure of the performance of a quantum computer), the IBM Quantum System One enables state-of-the-art research for concrete application scenarios in science and industry. In 2016, IBM was the first company to make universal quantum computers accessible via the cloud. An active community of more than 200,000 users have run hundreds of billions of executions on real IBM Quantum hardware, and have published more than 200 research papers based on these experiments. IBM is also the first company to have commercial clients via the IBM Quantum Network, a community of more than 100 businesses, start-ups, research labs, education institutions and governments working with IBM to advance quantum computing.